


I've Got A Soul To Sell

by Immicolia



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 20:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15275220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immicolia/pseuds/Immicolia
Summary: New enemies can make strange bedfellows out of old ones, and Shoichi has to decide just how far he'll go to retrieve his brother's consciousness.





	I've Got A Soul To Sell

The message comes in the middle of the night, short and to the point with absolutely no indication of who it might be from attached. Nothing more than three short sentences and a time that is only ten minutes away followed by a set of network coordinates.

_[I can help you with that Ignis data. Bring it with you and come alone. Don't send Playmaker.]_

Everything about it is enough to set off a good dozen alarm bells clattering in the back of Shoichi's mind. Knowledge of the Ignises, the fact that whoever it was managed to connect him to Playmaker, the insistence he come alone. Any one of those things individually would have been suspicious. All of them lined up together in a single message flag it as the most massive trap he's ever seen.

He should call Yusaku and they should discuss where to go from there. But ten (seven now) minutes is nowhere near enough time to come up with a plan of action. Certainly Yusaku could log in from his own apartment and Shoichi could provide overwatch as usual, but that would likely scare off whoever sent the message. And something complex like masking Yusaku's avatar would take more time to prepare than they have.

Which is probably why the message was sent the way it was, to leave him with no time to plan or think. All he can do is react.

Four minutes. Enough time to send Yusaku a short message that explains what he's about to do but not much more than that. He could call as well, but the debate that would likely ensue....

That would take up far too much time. Better to just do it.

Shoichi doesn't particularly like VR. Thinking about how it was used to torture Jin is enough to leave him sick to his stomach and furious, but despite that he has always been capable of recognizing its usefulness. Link Vrains and the various other virtual worlds on the network are prime gathering places for all types, and in the years before teaming up with Yusaku he ventured in on his own. His account was barely one step above a throwaway with a perfectly plain and generic avatar. Something completely anonymous to be used whenever he needed to drift around the edges of virtual society and gather information, but it served him well enough years ago and it will do just as well tonight.

New Link Vrains is a sleek, gleaming, thing -- all pretty and glossy and perfectly sanitized -- but there are still rough spots around the edges where unsavoury deals go down and that is where Shoichi waits. Watching the last few seconds before the meeting time count down, his whole body tense when the numbers hit zero and for a moment there is nothing. Nothing but the distant sound of music and cheerful shouts from the proper part of Link Vrains.

Then Revolver shimmers into existence, logging in from god knows where, and Shoichi's stomach twists itself into an even more complicated knot. A mess of conflicting urges (get the hell away, find out what he wants, fight him) that leave him rooted in place until Revolver speaks.

"I'm surprised. I expected you to send Playmaker."

"Your message told me not to and it's not like I was given much time to come up with a plan. Although if I'd known it was you--" He trails off threateningly and Revolver smirks, the expression indistinct behind his mask.

"Who did you honestly expect?"

Shoichi shrugs. "I hadn't put much thought into it. Someone from SOL, maybe. I just know I didn't think you'd be this brazen. So what do you want?"

"I have a proposition."

"And what makes you think that I have any kind of answer other than 'get fucked' for you?"

"Because I could help you find your brother."

Shoichi's whole body goes still and cold. His breath caught somewhere in the back of his throat, not that he's sure if he really needs to breathe at all in here, and he wants to tell Revolver off. Because there is no possible way that he's telling the truth. He doesn't know how Revolver found out about any of it, but however he managed there is no way he knows more than Shoichi does. Not this quickly. There is no way he knows more and there is no way he can possibly help.

Except what if he _can_.

"Talk." The single word is shakier than he wants it to be. Cracking with disbelief and a faint thread of hope that he struggles to choke back. "And if you're screwing with me I swear to god--"

"Not at all. You have Ignis data that you've been trying to decipher, don't you? Like I said in my message, I can help with that. In fact, I'm the only person who can possibly help with it."

"How?"

"We'll get to that. First I have a question for you: are you intent on protecting the Ignises?"

"The only thing I'm 'intent' on is getting my brother back." The words escape without a thought even as a stab of guilt prickles its way through his chest. Is he really that intent, especially given who he's talking to. Would he exchange Ai's life for Jin's?

 _In a heartbeat,_ a cold, dark part of him whispers back. A harsh, vicious, edge that he normally tries and succeeds in ignoring, although it's only getting more and more difficult to the longer everything stretches on. _Everyone is expendable. Even me._

"Not that I'm going to hand Ai over," Shoichi continues, fighting those thoughts down. "Not to you and definitely not because you're spinning some garbage about being able to 'help' that might not even be true."

"Even though the Ignises are dangerous?"

"That's just what you say. I have a hard time believing it. The two that I've seen seem pretty damn harmless."

"I think we're both aware of how deceiving looks can be." The faint outline of Revolver's smile is coolly mocking, as if he can read every single dark thought that coils its way through Shoichi's mind and can see his usual casualness for nothing more than the facade it is.

"Maybe. But there's also the fact that keeping them out of your reach means that you fail, which is satisfying in its own way."

"All I want is to clean up my father's mess."

"'Mess,' that's a mild way to put it," Shoichi spits back. "If kidnapping and torture is just a 'mess' what do you call nearly killing thousands to clean it up?"

"Collateral damage." Revolver's words are blunt and cold enough to send a chill tripping its way up Shoichi's spine. "Are you telling me that you wouldn't kill for your revenge? Or what you view as right? If killing me would have stopped the Tower when we were face to face, would you have done it?"

"That's a pretty sorry excuse for a comparison."

"And that's not an answer."

"What? Do you want me to say 'yes' so you can crow about how we're not all that different? Because I think killing one asshole with daddy issues to save modern society as we know it would put me on the 'good' side, don't you?"

Revolver twitches, just slightly. A barely perceptible movement that is enough to prove that Shoichi's casually slung barb struck a nerve. Although he soon enough recovers, hissing, "Would Playmaker agree with you?" in return.

This time it's Shoichi's turn to flinch, his every muscle bowstring tight from holding himself in check. "This is going nowhere. I'm leaving unless you tell me what the hell you want."

Revolver is silent for a moment, studying him carefully before he nods and answers. "The exchange is a simple one. I'll help you decrypt the Ignis data you have, you give me access to that data and any other Ignis data you might find so I can track them down."

"That's it? You don't want me to do your dirty work and wipe out Ai or something?"

"I know you'd never agree to that. This is a fair enough exchange. And as a show of good faith...." Revolver's hand moves slightly and almost immediately the air in front of him ripples and tears. A jet-black hole in virtual space that Revolver nods towards, indicating for Shoichi to enter. "We can take care of the decrypting right now."

"You expect me to cheerfully walk right into your lair? How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're stupid, but I do know that you're desperate. This is the only chance you have. You'll never manage to decipher that data on your own. Now--" Revolver smiles and once again motions for Shoichi to precede him.

For a moment Shoichi hesitates. He still has an out. He could go back, call Yusaku, tell him what he's learned so far and they could decide exactly how to deal with this whole situation from there.

Except he can still find out more, maybe even get that data cracked so they can manage to find a way into Windy's little corner of the restricted area again. Sure, Revolver will wind up with access to it too but they'd both have the same information. And Shoichi doesn't doubt for a moment that when on even footing Yusaku will be able to come out on top again. That thought alone enough to push him forward and into the waiting darkness.

Everything falls away the moment he steps inside. No light beyond faint spots of blue-white that glow in the distance, no sound, nothing but an uneasy sort of stillness that his him imagining shadowy creatures poised in the dark and waiting to pounce. He is in the belly of the beast, after all, and so very alone and fragile.

As if to drive home just how fragile there is a faint shimmer and a crackle that claws almost painfully at the back of his skull as his avatar changes. The smooth, bland, default he'd been wearing replaced with the stark white of the Knights' uniform and Shoichi scowls as he examines his sleeves.

"Cute. This a power play?"

"It's a good way to remind you who is in absolute control here, yes. As well as a security measure. But let's get on to business. The data you have, let's see it."

Without another word Shoichi holds up the duel disc he'd strapped on solely for the storage space it could provide and gives his wrist a small flick. Within seconds the Ignis data lights up the air in front of them, glittering lines of code that he has cursed and frowned at and banged his head against for weeks now. "It's related to the wind Ignis. I was thinking that if I could crack it I could open a gate into his world so we wouldn't have to wait for him to do it. Then Playmaker could head in and look for where my brother was taken again."

"You made more progress than I would have expected," Revolver murmurs, his voice as impassive as his expression. "But completing anything is impossible without this."

Revolver snaps his fingers and a softly glowing card flickers into existence above his hand.

"What is it?"

"An encryption key. Since each Ignis developed differently--"

Revolver pauses, and Shoichi almost wants to laugh at the sudden delicacy. As it is there's a bitterly amused edge to his voice when he snaps, "You're acting like I haven't heard this already," in response.

"Each Ignis developed differently from exposure to a different child," Revolver continues, his tone purely clinical. "Meaning, the inherent data of each encrypted itself differently, which complicates things. My father managed to create a key out of their shared base code, but even with it a certain amount of skill is needed to adapt it to an Ignis' individual algorithm."

"Fine. So how long will it take?"

"That's up to you." A slight frown creases Shoichi's brow as Revolver continues. "You're clearly talented and I want to find out just how much."

"You're testing me."

"Yes."

"And if I fail?"

"I don't think you will. You won't let yourself." A faint smile touches Revolver's lips and with a small wave of his hand he pushes the key towards Shoichi. "Your only restriction is that you have to do it here, while I watch. I'm not about to allow you unfettered access to that key. If you try to copy it I'll know and you won't leave here alive."

"Then let's hope I don't get performance anxiety." Shoichi's tone is almost as flat and cold as Revolver's as he snatches the card out of midair, turning it between his fingertips. It's all but humming under his touch, crackling with information he can almost _see_ in the back of his mind. Hacking in VR is an entirely different experience from what he does normally, mostly dependant on launching pre-written programs, but in a place as quiet and still as the bubble the Knights of Hanoi have created for themselves it's possible to do the more delicate work that usually requires outside access.

The same kind of work, only faster. Fast as thought. No need to wait for his fingers to catch up to his mind. As soon as he sees what needs to be done it's already changed, and alongside the key Revolver handed him what was once baffling and impenetrable falls open within moments.

Although not completely. Near the absolute core of it all there is a tight little tangle that he can't quite make heads or tails of, even with the key, and he's not sure how long he spends going back and forth over it before Revolver's voice shatters his train of thought.

"That's enough."

"Just- give me a minute. I've almost got it." It barely registers how casually he's speaking to Revolver of all people. All that matters right now is the fact that he almost, _almost_ , has this figured out. A little bit more and he should be able to put a trace on wherever the hell it is the wind Ignis is hiding himself. Then if he can find it, he can find a way in. And then....

"Maybe, but I've seen all that I need to." A second sharp snap of Revolver's fingers and everything fades away. The data, the key, all the work Shoichi had just done, and in an instant he turns. On the razor's edge of exploding into violence and Revolver simply smiles at him.

"I can finish it myself," Revolver says, quietly amused by the viciousness of Shoichi's reaction. "We'll take care of hunting the wind Ignis and return your brother to you if we find him."

"What do you mean 'if'? You said--"

"There are no guarantees in life and at the end of the day he's not our priority. Although, there is one way to _make_ him a priority...." Revolver's voice trails off and Shoichi can feel his jaw clenching in response. The proposition is obvious.

"You want me to join you. That's what all of this is about."

"The Knights of Hanoi take care of our own."

"Bullshit. I saw just how disposable those grunts of yours were."

"Useful idiots who wanted nothing more than the illusion of power and to make a name for themselves. You'd be different. You know the truth of it all and outside of the fact that you don't seem to duel you're more than skilled enough to keep up."

"I think you're forgetting the part where I'd much rather see all of you in prison."

"No, I haven't forgotten. But new enemies can make strange bedfellows of old ones, don't you think?"

Shoichi says nothing, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists even as Revolver smiles at him.

"Have you considered that the only reason your brother was taken was to lure Playmaker back into Link Vrains?"

"And?" Shoichi shoots back. "What's your point?"

"It's just interesting. Perhaps if he wasn't so close with the dark Ignis this wouldn't have happened at all."

Silence falls, each of them eying the other coldly before Revolver speaks again, "You don't have to make a decision immediately. I'll contact you again once I finish decrypting this data. You can decide then. And even if you don't join us I'll still hold up my end of the bargain and give you the data. That was the deal, after all."

Before Shoichi can respond he's forcibly logged out, his head pounding from the sudden biofeedback being unwillingly ejected from VR brings. The fact that there's a thousand and one harried thoughts chasing each other around his skull not helping in the slightest.

He should call Yusaku. They absolutely need to discuss this. Maybe bring Takeru in as well and go over exactly what was learned from this encounter and how they might counter whatever Hanoi is planning to do with the information that they'll gain from the data Shoichi handed over.

He should.

But he doesn't.

**Author's Note:**

> This might continue. Maybe. I haven't quite decided yet. I have some thoughts, but it also works well enough as a stand alone so....


End file.
